Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Out on Curved ridge over the weekend with Tim and Neal for Abacus Mountain guides. A great day with dry rock if a little cold at times in the wind and when the cloud did come in. Plenty of other people out enjoying the weather too with teams on Rannoch wall, North Buttress and voices coming from plenty of other directions. We had a steady ascent and were in no rush and topped out in time for lunch and a very relaxed descent back to the car. No good photos, they were all a bit grainy.

Thursday, 23 August 2012

Back on line now as I moved a week ago and it's taken a bit of time to get things sorted along with all the other hassles of moving. In the middle of it all I had a Three peaks Challenge over the weekend for Maximum Adventure. It started a little damp on Ben Nevis but the weather did improve as the weekend went on and we were treated to the sun setting on Scafell and rising on Snowdon. A good set of times put in by the team too with one person just under 21 hours. Had another couple of days of sorting but have managed to get out on the bike too to keep the legs going.

Thursday, 16 August 2012

I was on Tower ridge yesterday with Simon and Mark for West Coast Mountain Guides. With the weather forecast to get worse as the day went on we opted for an early start and were walking away from the car park by 8am in what was glorious weather and with very little sign of the strong winds that were forecast.

It wasn't long though before it started to pick up and the cloud started to roll in over the summit but the guys were strong and fit so we decided to pop our heads up onto the ridge and see what it was actually like. Up on the ridge it was fine and the guys made quick progress to the little tower where things started to liven up a little.

It was always in the back of my mind though that it might just be too much for us to do the gap and as we climbed up onto the great tower we were soon treated to full force of the wind. With a little bit more concentration and moving steadily just in case a big gust came in we still managed to get across the gap and up to the summit and were topped out by midday. A good effort from the guys and it was only their confidence and abilities that meant we made it up, I would have turned round with many other parties on that day. No photos I'm afraid, I forgot my camera.

Saturday, 11 August 2012

The John Muir Trust have launched their appeal to help raise funds to secure the future of the path in Glen Nevis running along side the Steall Gorge. They have already received £25,000 worth of funding but need to raise further £60,000. More information can be found here. www.jmt.org/appeal